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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The distance in pitch between two notes.






2. A symbol indicating to play loud.






3. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






4. A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.






5. The unit of musical rhythm.






6. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.






7. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.






8. One of two or more parts in polyphonic music. Voice refers to instrumental parts as well as the singing voice.






9. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






10. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






11. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






12. In sheet music - a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.






13. A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.






14. Closing section of a movement.






15. Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written.






16. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






17. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






18. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






19. The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.






20. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






21. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






22. Repetition of a single tone.






23. To shift to another key.






24. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






25. The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.






26. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






27. First developed in the 8th century - methods of writing music.






28. Tone color - quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.






29. A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.






30. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






31. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






32. A lighthearted piece - written in several movements - usually as background music for a social function.






33. A dance written in triple time - where the accent falls on the first beat of each measure.






34. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






35. A composition written for eight instruments.






36. A reprise.






37. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.






38. A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords - the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.






39. A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.






40. A string of chords played in succession.






41. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






42. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






43. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






44. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






45. The structure of a piece of music.






46. A reprise.






47. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






48. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






49. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






50. The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.